Gas holder



Sept 4-, 1928. 1,683,005

J. H. WIGGINS GAS HOLDER Filed July 20, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 j/VVEN OR ATToHA/A r5 Sept. 4, 1928. 1,683,005

J. H. WIGGINS GAS HOLDER Filed July 20, 925 4 Sheets-Shet' 2 H7TO FNE v5 Sept. 4, 1928 J. H. WIGGINS GAS HOLDE R Filed July 20, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet Patented Sept. 4, 1928.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN-H. WIGGINS, ORBARTLESVIILE, OKLAHOMA.

GAS HOLDER.

Application filed July 20, 1925. Serial No. 44,855.

This invention relates to gas holders or gasorneters of the type in which the top wall of the gas space is formed by a liorizontallydisposed piston or deck arranged to slide vertically in the holder and combined with a means for preventing the gas from escaping from the interior of the holder through the joint between the side wall of the holder and the peripheral edge portion of said piston.

One object of my invention is to provide a gas holder that is equipped with a sealing means for the joint between the piston and the side wall of the holder thatis reliable, of simple design and of such construction that its efiiciency is not affected 'by long usage or by variations or inequalities in the piston and side wall of the holder.

Another object is to provide a gas holder or gasometer which. is equipped with a means for producing a practically joint between the side wall of the h der and the vertically-movable piston or deck that does not employ a sealing liquid, in combination with a means for recovering any leakage which might possibly escape past 'said joint.

To this end I have devised a gas holder in which the vertically-movable deck or piston is provided at its peripheral edge with a flexible sealing device arranged in sliding engagement with the inner face of the side wall of the holder anddisposed in such relation to a gas collection chamber that any gas which escapes from the interior of the holder upwardly through the joint between said side wall and sealing device will enter said collection chamber and thus be prevented from escaping to the atmosphere. Said sealing device is preferably constructed so that the pressure of the gas in the holder willbe exerted on said device in a direction tending to @press it tightly against the side wall of the holder, and means are preferably provided for causing the gas that enters said collection chamber to be returned to the interior of the holder.

ferred form. of my invention herein illustrated the deck is equipped with two annular sealing'devices that are arranged one above the other in spaced relation so as to permit the space between said devices to be used to form the gas collection chamber: previously referred to. This space or chamber is connected at one or more points with a manifold on the deck that is connected by a conduit In the prewith a reservoir, and a pump is provided for returning the gas from said reservoir P back to the interior of the holder.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical transverse sectional view of a gas holder or gasometer constructed in accordance with my nvention.

F1gure 2- is a horizontal sectional View of said gas holder, taken at a point above the vertically-movable piston or deck and showing said deck in top plan. I

F1gure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view for the purpose of clearly illustrating the construction of the means: used to seal the space between theside wall of the holder and the deck and the devices on said deck that co-operate with said side wall to hold the deck level and insure free vertical movement of same.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View, taken through the side wall of the holder and the rim of the deck with some parts of the sealing means omitted so as to show how the shoe members overlap.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view partly diagrammatic, illustrating the means used to control the starting and stopping of the pump that returns the gas from the gas reservoir and collection chamber of the sealing means back to the holder.

Figure 6 is a detail top plan view, illustratlng the means that is used to produce gasi-tight joints between the shoe-sections; an

Figure 7 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the shoe and the sealing devices on the exterior of same.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates the cylindrical side wall of a gas holder or gasometer and B designates'as an entirety a horizontally-disposed deck or piston arranged so as to slide vertically in the holder, and thus form the top wall of a variable gas space. The holder is provided with a roofl and with supports 2 on which the deck or piston B rests when it is in its lowermost position, and a means of novel design is used for sealing the space between the side wall A of the holder and the peripheral edge portion of the deck B. The'particular construction of the deck itself isimmaterial, but said deck will usually be formed frommetal plates that are combined with radially-disposed trusses 3 in such a way as to produce a stiff deck that will not upwardly and downwardly in the holder.

In the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated the guide rollers 4 are mounted in carriers 5 that are secured to the trusses 3 by bolts 6 which pass through elongated slots formed either in the trusses or in the roller carriers 5, and adjusting screws 7 are 'mounted in brackets 8 on the trusses so as to assist in accurate adjustment of the roller carriers. Uprights 9 are preferably connected to the outer face of the side wall A of the'holderin spaced relation, as shown in Figure 2, so as to impart sufficient rigidity to said wall to enable it to successfully withstand the thrusts and strains exerted on same by the radially-disposed guiding devices on the deck B. i

The sealing means, previously referred to, that is used to maintain a gas-tight joint between the side wall of the holder and the vertically-movable deck B is superior to the sealing means now generally used in gas holders or gasometers, in that it overcomes the necessity of using a liquid, as is nowthe usual practice; the eificiency of same isnot affected by-inequalities or variations in the side wall of the holder or the opposed portion of the deck B; it requires practically no attention to insure its remaining in an operative condition, and the co-operating parts of same are-so designed and arranged that wear on same is automatically compensated for. Said sealing means in its simplest form consists of a flexible sealing de vice 0 arranged in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the side wall A of the holder and combined with the deck 13 in such a way that gas cannot escape upwardly between said deck and sealing device, and a gas collection chamber D arranged above said sealing device in such relation with same that any gas which escapes upwardly through the joint between the inner face of the wall A and the sealing device G will enter said chamber D, and thus be prevented from escaping to the atmosphere or to the space in the interior of the holder above the deck B. Preferably two sealing devices C and C are arranged one above the other in spaced relation so that the space between said devices can be used to form the collection chamber D, as shown in Figure 3. The sealup by a sprin of the holder and bear against the inner surface of same, said sealing devices or pads being flexible enough to conform to inequalities or irregularities on the surfaces on which they act and being soft or flexible enough to insure their having a relatively great bearing area on'the side wall of the holder. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the sealing devices C and C are connected to the exterior of an annular ring E or shoe that surrounds an upwardly-projecting rim 11 on the deck B, said shoe being supported on the deck preferably in such a way that it is capable of a slight radial movement relatively to the deck, the means herein illustrated for supporting said shoe consisting of upwardlyinclined links or hangers 12 interposed between said rim and shoe and pivotally connected to said arts by pivots 13, as shown in Figure 3. he shoe E is made up of a number of segmental shoe sections 14, formed preferably from thin metal plates that are more or less flexible and which are arranged with their end portions in overlapping relation, as shown in Figure 4, so as to permit the shoe E as an entirety to expand and contract slightly.

In order to prevent the gas from escaping from the interior of the holder upwardly through the space between the shoe E and the ring 11 on the deck, a flexible device, designated as an entirety by the reference character F is secured to the top edge of the shoe E and to the upper edge of the rim 11, as shown in Figure 3. This device F is herein illustrated as being composed of a plurality of layers 15 of fabric combined so as to produce a hollow, flexible container that is adapted to be filled with grease 16 which can be forced into said container through a filling device 17 on same, as shown in Figure 3. The joints between the sections 14 of the shoe E areprotected and made gas-tight by fibrous packing material 18, preferably saturated with grease and arranged in holders 19, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, each .of which holders is attached to one shoe section and arranged to lap over the endof the adjacent shoe section. Due to the fact that the shoe E is formed from relatively light-weight, flexible sheet metal, it is preferable to connect vertical stiffening memhere 20 to the inner sides of the shoe sections and attach the upper ends of the hangers 12 to said members, and also connect short, horizontally-disposed, channelshaped members 21 to the inner sides of said shoe sections adjacent the lower edges of same to co-operate with spring-pressed plungers 22 carried by the rim 11 of the deck and arranged to exert pressure on the shoe E in a direction tending to force the sealing devices C and C on same tightl against the side wall A of the holder. WVhile the members 20 and 21 effectively prevent th shoe E from distorting, they do not interfere .with the radial flexibility of said shoe. .It 1s known that though it is quite difiicult to keep the diameter of the side wall on a gas holder exact throughout its height, it is quite simple to maintain the circumference maximum to a minimum of, say, or of an inch. Therefore, very little circumferential change is necessary, but the shoe E of my structure which carries the sealing devices that act on the side wall of the holder is so designed that considerable change in diameter is permissible, for besides the stretching and contracting of the sealing devices C and C, the hangers 12 that carry the shoe can lean an inch or more in either direction tangentially from normal to allow for change in diameter, in addition to the radial movement of the hangers 12. One or more flexible tubes 23 are used to establish communication at one or more points between the collection chamber D and a gas manifold 24 of annularform that extends around the circumference of the deck 13 and which is supported by brackets 25 connected to the rim 11 of said deck. Communication between the gas manifold 24 and agas reservoir G is established by-means of a flexible the gas reservoir G is of the counterbalance,

bell and tank type, and the pump H is operated by an electric motor 28 whose circuit is controlledby a switch 29that is opened and closed automatically by the rise and fall of the bell of the gas reservoir, designated as an entirety by the reference chamber G.

Obviously any means can be used for operat- 7 ing the switch 29, the means herein illustrated consisting of-two operating members 30 and 30" joined together by a link 31, as illustrated in Figure 1, and arrangedso that one of the c unter weights 32 of the gas reservoir G will engage the member 30 and move it in a direction to close the circuit of the motor 28 when the bell of the reservoir G reaches its extreme upper position, and said counterweight will engage the member 30 and moveit in a direction to open the motor circuit when said bell reaches its extreme lowermost position. Any gas that leaks upwardly through the joint between the sealing device C and the side wall A enters the gas collection chamberD and flows from same into the manifold 24, and thence passes from said manifold through the conduit 26 into the bell of'the gas reservoir G. Said bell moves upwardlyas the gas accumulates therein,and after a certain quantity of gas has entered said bell, the pump H automatically becomes operative,and thus withdraws of the side wall- A. of the holder is so con structed that the pressure of the gas in the holder is utilized to force the sealing devices U and C tightly against the side wall A of the holder. This desirable result is attained by spacing the shoe E slightly away from the rim 11 on the deck and closing the space at the top edges of said shoe and rim by a gas-tight device F, thereby producing a seal of substantially inverted trough shape whose interior is in direct communication with the interior of the holder, and thereby permitting the gas in the holder to exert pressure on a portion of said seal, to wit, the shoe'E in a direction tending to force it outwardly against the side wall A of the holder Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let tersPatent is:

l. A gas, holder, comprising a cylindrical side wall, a vertically-movable deck or piston having its peripheral portion spaced away from said side wall, a radially-movable flexible sealing apparatus at the periphery of the deck that acts on the side wall of the holder,-' a supporting means for said sealing apparatus, a gas-tight, flexible closure for the space between said sealing apparatus and deck, and means for recovering any gas that escapes upwardly through the joint between said sealing apparatus and side wall.

2. A gas holder, comprising a. cylindrical side 'wall, a vertically-movable deck or piston having its peripheral portion spaced away from said side-wall, a sealing means for the space between said deck and side wall comprising a sealing device that acts on said side wall, a gas collection chamber for receiving gas which escapes upwardly through the joint between said sealing-device and side wall, a gas reservoirin communication with said collection chamber, a pump for taking the gas from said reservoir, and means for causing said pump to become operative after a certain approximate quantity of gas has entered said reservoir and for becoming inoperative after a certain approximate quantity of gas has been withdrawn from said reservoir and recovered.

3. A gas holder, comprising a cylindrical side wall, a vertically-movable deck or piston having its peripheral portion spacedaway shoe and deck, a gas manifold on the deck that communicates with said gas collection chamber, a pressure regulator that communicates with said manifold, and means whereby the gas that enters said collection chamber can be recovered.

4. A gas holder, com rising a cylindrical side Wall, a vertically-movable deck having 1 its peripheral portion spaced away from said side wall, a flexible sealing device carried by the deck and arranged in sliding engagement with said side wall, a gas collection chamber arranged so as to receive. any

gas which leaks upwardly past said seal ing device, and means for returning the gases fI'OIILSalCl gas collect on chamber to the interior of the gas holder.

JOHN H. WIGGINS. 

